Stricter controls could be imposed on the property market after house prices in some cities went up faster than expected, Shanghai Securities Journal reported Wednesday.
The report cited an unidentified source close to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development as saying that major cities such as Beijing are "basically sure" to announce new measures in the near term, including restraining demand and creating higher barriers.
These new measures will probably be announced before early March, when the country opens the year's major political meetings, the report said.
After a short-lived cool-off in 2010, the housing market began to recover in 2012 as the Chinese government tuned its policy to focus more on economic growth.
In December 2012, 54 of 70 major Chinese cities, up from 53 in November, recorded higher new home prices than a month earlier.
Housing transactions also rose after demand picked up for fear of further rises, as evidenced by long queues in the transaction halls in Beijing.
The recent development has fueled speculation that the government may introduce fresh measures to dampen the market and ease public complaints.
"If the government does not tighten its policy, prices in some major cities will run out of control," said Yang Hongxu, vice president of the Shanghai-based R&D Institute of E-house China.
Inquiries sent to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development were unanswered by press time.
Xinhua - Global Times
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